When Evan Left
by Matt Mimi
Summary: Pietro reflects on life after Evan leaves the X-Men.


A/N: What can I say? A mental image of this fic just sorta popped into my mind.  
  
Disclaimer: Oh, yeah, I own X-Men: Evolution. Uh-huh. That's why this is a FANfic instead of being aired for the public to see in animation form. OF COURSE I don't own it!  
  
When Evan Left  
By: Crystal, aka Matt & Mimi  
  
You know, I always admired you.  
  
No, seriously. You were the most amazing person I had ever met... Besides myself, of course. You had the power to light up a room with a smile and a joke, and you were always good at everything. Never as good as myself, but hey, no one's perfect, other than myself.   
  
One of the most fascinating things about you is that you never realized this power that you held. It wasn't as obvious as your mutant powers, so of course you never realized. You never were an Einstein, Daniels.  
  
And maybe that's why you're gone.  
  
I see the haunted look in the eyes of your friends. And yes, they are still your friends. We may be on the same side as them now, but there has always been this divider between us. Brotherhood and X-Men, ya know?   
  
Anyhow.  
  
Whay strikes me as odd, though, is that you never knew how much they cared for you. And oh, they did. Maybe not as much as myself, but the two of us had a special bond. The bond of friendship so strong, that it's more like a brotherhood.  
  
No pun intended, of course.  
  
Anyhow, they're all taking this very hard. Kitty will sometimes be completely unable to hold the tears in, and she'll end up crying in the bathroom. Her teachers are all very sympathetic. She confided in me that she thought of you as a close friend, a confidant. She always thought that you felt the same of her.  
  
And as for Kurt, well, I guess if I was your best friend, then he was the runner-up. He reminds me of you, really, always ready with a joke. But the jokes have been silenced, along with anything else he might have had to say.  
  
Scott and Jean have been playing the role of big brother and sister to this lot, dishing out advice on how to cope with the pain of losing a close friend. But sometimes, late at night when I can't sleep because of the nightmares, I hear them talking about how things are just as rough for them as for any other of this lot.  
  
And as for Rogue, well, she's been writing in that leather-bound diary of hers, always writing. No one has tried to approach her because of those "leave-me-alone" vibes she's been sending. But she looks a little lonely, if you ask me.  
  
And as for me...  
  
"Daniels."  
  
I glared.  
  
"Do you realize what you have done to these people, your so-called friends?" I asked. "Well, do ya? You always said you cared, that they were as close as family to you. You once said the same of me, too, if I recall. But then you left. And I don't think that I'll ever forgive you for doing that to them, to... Me."  
  
My hands clenched, tightened into fists. "You know, I'd hurt you for what you've done... But I think you've done a pretty fair job of it yourself."  
  
And then you blew smoke into my face. "I don't need you," you said roughly. "Or anyone else. I can handle things on my own."  
  
I let out a bitter laugh. "You've been doing a fair job of it so far, I see," I said bitingly. "So, do you plan on denying that you're a mutant?"  
  
"That's something I can't escape from," you retorted.  
  
"Yeah, but you seem to be doing your damndest to try," I said reflectively.  
  
"I can't run..." you said. "I won't run. Not from that. But I don't need your help. I just want to be alone. I don't want this fucking war of yours."  
  
"My, my," I said with mock-sugar in my voice. "You should wash that mouth of yours out." I switched back to anger. "You know, you've changed. You used to be someone that a person could count on."  
  
"Yeah..." you responded. "But then you came along. You say that I've changed? Well, I'm not the only one, Pietro. You've changed, too. A friend... A thief... An enemy... And now, do you really think you can make amends to me? That just because you're on the same side that I was, we can be friends? No, I'm afraid that our friendship went out when you betrayed me, friend."  
  
"You now, they miss you," I said.  
  
You let out a short, barking laugh. "No, they don't," he said. "They don't miss me. They miss Spyke."  
  
And with that, you walked away from me, maybe forever. Maybe not... 


End file.
